About

AR for Everyone Augmented/Mixed/Virtual Reality Headset

$6,831

pledged of $5,000 goal

136

backers

What is a prototype?

A prototype is a preliminary model of something. Projects that offer physical products need to show backers documentation of a working prototype. This gallery features photos, videos, and other visual documentation that will give backers a sense of what’s been accomplished so far and what’s left to do. Though the development process can vary for each project, these are the stages we typically see:

Proof of Concept

Explorations that test ideas and functionality.

Functional Prototype

Demonstrates the functionality of the final product, but looks different.

Appearance Prototype

Looks like the final product, but is not functional.

Design Prototype

Appearance and function match the final product, but is made with different manufacturing methods.

Production Prototype

Appearance, function, and manufacturing methods match the final product.

Prototype Gallery

These photos and videos provide a detailed look at this project’s development.

ABOVE ARE OUR UNIVERSAL MODES - AR,VR & MR - which includes all of the legacy and contemporary Stereoscopic VR games normally played in Google Cardboard or Gear VR.

If you love 360 videos, Netflix and Cinematic widescreen, the CINEMATIC mode is the perfect solution - See the video below shot in AR Cinematic - without the Immersive Visor.

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12/05/17 - Last evening we shared our AR4 M production prototype with the Boston VR community at Autodesk. The response and feedback was excellent - reinforcing the key elements of our development path. More details, including the supportive quotes of Boston VR founders will be included in our upcoming Update Post. On 12/14/17, we will be back at Autodesk Boston demonstrating the AR4 E and three of the possible configurations.

We are excited to share this innovative, multi-purpose, Smart Phone headset for both true AR and VR and to prove it is the best $25 AR/VR headset available. Our innovative optics and technology cushions the Smart Phone close to the forehead, minimizing the forces; and enables full screen, high resolution NetFlix and 2D Games, while enabling adjustable offset, stereoscopic Virtual Reality.

With Augmented Reality, real world games and interactions are safe and free of disorienting artifacts. Add a real or virtual keyboard and one can easily program and prototype in a single step. Unity, Android Studio, ARKit among others are all directly compatible.

For those mesmerized by legacy, stereoscopic View-Master VR, we provide a simple, reversible, 30 second transformation into the standard VR format with a wider field of view.

AR4 is not only the perfect entry point at the best possible price - a low-cost, easy to use, foldable, and lightweight head-mounted display enabling AR/VR wherever you are, but also the most cost-effective, productive, multi-modal programmers and makers tool.

Your support and feedback will help us perfect our next levels of molded AR4 Ultra HeadSets - and reward you with Special, First Adopter Status and Discounts on our future projects.

If you are going to back a project, we are offering limited quantities of headsets to Kickstarter Early Adopters! Five hundred (500) of the AR4 M headsets, and five hundred (500) of the AR4 E headset will be available for this campaign to help us meet our goal.

You will be helping us build the first step in a line of tech that ends with lightweight AR glasses that fit naturally into our daily lives.

INTRO ON AR/VR

AR and VR have been with us since the late 1800s, with Pepper's Ghost taking the stage in 1862 and the early forms of the View-Master in 1919 (Barrier stereoscopes were even earlier.)

In true “Augmented Reality” (AR), one overlays one’s normal view of the external environment with virtual images and data - from the simple text display of the time and date in the upper margin, to a complex integration of the practical recognition of every object, to a world of fantasy and games, populating one’s view. True AR maintains one’s normal balance and perspective, and thus inherently is the safest way to interact with the real world.

Virtual Reality (VR), on the other hand, creates a full visual immersion in a simulated environment. This allows for complete control over the user's visual input. With no view of the surrounding world you lose the perception of being in the space you are in and “feel” transported to the visual representation presented. Content in the form of games, tours, simulations, and video all become first-person for the user. This viewing experience blocks out the real world and isolates you in the headset for a fantastic experience.

SO WHAT ABOUT OUR HEADSET?

AR For Everyone evolved from our decades of professional experience in biophysics, vision, entertainment, robotics, computer graphics, art, and sculpture.

The 1862 optical illusion (Pepper's Ghost) at the core our first AR/VR experiments at MIT in the 1980s using Sony Camcorder displays and our early catadioptric designs. This experimentation path is evident in the optics and periscope of our AR4 M and AR4 E headsets.

As diehard fans of View-Master stereography, we replaced the slides with miniature LCD displays - the current design used by most major tethered headsets. The use of the smartphone - now popularized as Google Cardboard - is a simple variation on this design.

When developing the AR4 headsets, we were able to leverage decades of experiments and the power of the smartphone to create a hybrid headset that functions exceptionally well for both viewing modes.

Our headset allows for a view of the world and the AR data layer. With a simple Velcro flap, we block out light for mobile VR experiences.

THE AR FOR EVERYONE PLATFORM

AR4 M & AR4 E are flexible hybrid headsets for viewing AR/VR content.

This means that Augmented Reality (AR) content in the form of games, data, and feedback can be placed in a display near the eyes, allowing the wearer to see the real world around them - as well as what is on the display. Imagine your flat screen TV floating in the world around you as you watch it. This headset also accommodates for Virtual Reality (VR), allowing a user to block out the real world and focus in only on the display. VR gives a full immersive view of a game, data, or video, with the user having no feedback from the outside world. Our design allows for both viewing experiences, and can use stereo and mono viewing modes depending on your content.

Using the headset to lounge and watch YouTube is a excellent experience. Another experiment used Google Maps to navigate around town via walking directions. This provided safe viewing of surroundings as well as the map's navigation. When paired with a VR remote or Bluetooth controller, interaction with content is immediate.

Our AR4 headsets will accommodate your smartphone and phone camera for AR/VR apps. The AR4 gives you a bright eye-level display projected onto a lens. This ends up placing what seems like a widescreen TV in front of your face, while still allowing you to see the world around you.

One of the innovations of this AR/VR headset is the placement of the 'smartphone' vertically close to the forehead. This position moves the center of gravity, reducing the tension in the head strap and allowing lighter materials to be used for the construction.

We enable the phone's main camera with a mini-periscope, allowing access to all camera-based AR apps.

Currently, our design folds into a flat pack of around 8” x 10” with a 90-degree viewing angle or 3D view.

We have made sure to include access to pre-existing content with a design that accommodates 'Legacy'. This re-positions the mirror and phone for a new wearable form factor.

LEGACY APPLICATIONS AND GOOGLE CARDBOARD -

For many VR/AR enthusiasts and experimenters, Google Cardboard has been the entry point. Taking advantage of the many applications developed for this format, our AR4 is specifically designed to run all Google Cardboard and camera-based apps.

SPECIAL EVENTS AND ENVIRONMENTS

The AR4 may be customized for AR/VR-based specific use cases: events, trade-shows, art experiences, LARPing, and enterprise customers. We have designs using the same optics that cover hard hats, medical shields, bicycle helmets, baseball caps, and lightweight glasses. Sector by sector, we have thought through creating this headset for development and play.

FUTURE EVOLUTION

We are actively in the process of evolving our AR4 cardboard designs into an elegant, durable, molded polymer smartphone headset for permanent use. Our Kickstarter ‘first adopters’ will have preferred status on all of our future AR4 designs.

SAFETY AND ADVANTAGES AT LOW COST

One of the many advantages of this headset is a safe hands-free, augmented reality experience. In situational games like Pokémon Go™, seeing the other players and the game at the same time is now possible. This broadens the use cases for immersive media while allowing the user to see the outside world and maintain their bearings.

This is not pseudo or camera AR, which uses a real-time camera image of the external world to reproduce the environment. Monoscopic camera images lack true depth, and even with accurate, dual stereoscopic cameras, one’s vision and comprehension is substantially degraded by the reliance on only image disparity for the stereoscopic effort.

OUR KICKSTARTER OFFERING

We are coming to the Kickstarter community to raise $5,000 to enable die cutting and our first volume run. This will substantially reduce our cost of manufacture, providing a quality product at an affordable price. We are offering two products initially - both are AR headsets.

AR4 M: This is a flat-view headset, giving a widescreen display in a comfortable to wear form factor.

AR4 E: This is a hybrid headset, giving a widescreen display and converting to a 3D display in a comfortable to wear form factor.

We have presented our operational production prototypes to the founders of Boston's AR/VR community and meetups, receiving an excellent response. Our prototyping has gone well, and we have a few details to finish.

Final design accommodations for phones and users

Select final materials

Package basic starter kits

Finalize mono/stereo adaptor

Source camera periscope – working prototype must be adapted to fit multiple phones

Create code base for app development – something to get you off and running on as many platforms as possible

This headset enables all levels of apps and innovation in AR and VR ‒ camera tracking, GPS positioning, remote control, and hands-free display. One of the strengths we are able to leverage is that kick-ass computer you have in your pocket. These flat-pack AR/VR headsets fold down into something easy to carry. In a few simple steps, you have a headset that holds your phone. This gives you access to the new viewing paradigm without another expensive, bulky piece of tech to carry around – a durable, reliable AR/VR headset at the lowest cost possible.

We all expect that a really cool set of AR glasses will come along, immersing us in our data and machine vision capabilities. This form factor gives us the ability to experiment, play, and design that app landscape now.

This project will contribute to the AR landscape. How we compute. How we interact with computers. This is an incredibly exciting time in computing – join us on this Kickstarter. We can’t wait to see what you create.

Thanks for your attention and support!

The AR for Everyone Team

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AR for Everyone comes out of a serious design group for holograms and has been at work in the field since the early 80s, moving from fine art displays to DOD work during the last 30 years. Specifically with deep roots at MIT, the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and MassArt, our team has delivered products from foul weather gear to event lighting, and helped build innovation R&D efforts for Fortune 5 companies.

Dennis Solomon:

Lasers, optics, computers and stereoscopy were among my early interests at MIT, where I was fortunate to learn from and collaborate with both Edwin Land and Steve Benton. I was later ensnared by biophysics and biomedicine - providing insights in human vision and visual comprehension, and experience with the early VR headsets and near-to-eye displays. The HoloDeck group coalesced in the 1970s on the deck of our research sailing ketch - Starship - developing technologies in medicine, theatre, defense, entertainment and education.

Steven Taylor:

I began working in computer 3D in 1999 when Dennis suggested I discover the world of VRML programming. My work has spanned the multimedia field, where I have executed large scale public art, appeared on the National Geographic Channel, and developed graphic novels. In the last decade, I have been a part of a number of start-ups as a marketeer and content creator. I recently built a media and content team within Royal Dutch Shell, where the team has been developing VR content for the energy sector.

Legal Issues

The AR for Everyone Software contains a variant of the MIT Open Software License, and we encourage and support the evolution of diverse, specialized software applications, especially in educational and medicine with a personal focus on Autism and Alzheimers. We encourage researchers in these fields to contact us.

Many elements of the AR For Everyone hardware are novel. We have filed and retain all commercial rights including US and international patent rights. We encourage and support educational use, and will be adding special classroom versions and projects. Please contact us for more information. HoloDeck® and iHoloDeck® are registered trademarks of the HoloDeck Trust, Cambridge, MA.

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Risks and challenges

The risks of this project are minimal. Our first goals are modest. The team is experienced in product design and construction. Our production prototypes have already toured the Boston/Cambridge AR/VR scene with excellent response. We have already engaged the nearby New England fabricators for the die cut of the cardboard and lenses. No significant assembly or shipping challenges are presented. We have identified contract manufacturers to help if volume is too large for our current capability.

Support

Select this reward

Pledge $15 or more
About $15

AR4 M Headset-- (300 only!)

Kickstarter Only: Flat view headset, head strap, legacy viewing mode, and AR for Everyone sticker pack. This headset is ideal for the widest viewing angle and least image loss- If you want to play games, or view video in a widescreen format then choose this headset. Access to slack channel and GitHub group for any interested backers.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $20 or more
About $20

AR4 M Headset

Kickstarter Only : Flat view headset, head strap, legacy viewing mode, and AR for Everyone sticker pack. This headset is ideal for the widest viewing angle and least image loss- If you want to play games, or view video in a widescreen format then choose this headset. Access to slack channel and GitHub group for any interested backers.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $25 or more
About $25

AR4 E Headset -- (500 only!)

Kickstarter Only: Hybrid headset, head strap, legacy viewing mode, and AR for Everyone sticker pack. AR4 E switches easily between flat and 3D viewing modes. Costs a little more to produce with additional optics, but gives you AR and VR in one platform. This headset also works in legacy mode, providing access to existing content.Access to slack channel and GitHub group for any interested backers.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $30 or more
About $30

AR4 E Headset

Hybrid headset, head strap, legacy viewing mode, and AR for Everyone sticker pack. AR4 E switches easily between flat and 3D viewing modes. Costs a little more to produce with additional optics, but gives you AR and VR in one platform. This headset also works in legacy mode, providing access to existing content.Access to slack channel and GitHub group for any interested backers.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $35 or more
About $35

Support Autism Research - AR4E & 2 AR4 A

At AR4, we support research and therapies for Autism and other behavior challenges. We have designed a simplified AR4 A Headset for this purpose. Your support and participation will help further these endeavors. Towards this goal, we have added this new reward - AR4 & Autism - at $35. Supporters will receive an AR4E Headset, and we will share the donation of two (2) AR4 M Special Autism Headsets to field centers associated with the Harvard-MIT Autism Project or a non-profit Autism organization of your choice. A certificate of donation and appreciation will included.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $45 or more
About $45

Interact with Two Combo AR4 E Headsets

2 (two) Hybrid headset, head strap, legacy viewing mode, and AR for Everyone sticker pack. AR4 E switches easily between flat and 3D viewing modes. Costs a little more to produce with additional optics, but gives you AR and VR in one platform. This headset also works in legacy mode, providing access to existing content.Access to slack channel and GitHub group for any interested backers.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $45 or more
About $45

Interact with Two Combo AR4 E Headsets

2 (two) Hybrid headset, head strap, legacy viewing mode, and AR for Everyone sticker pack. AR4 E switches easily between flat and 3D viewing modes. Costs a little more to produce with additional optics, but gives you AR and VR in one platform. This headset also works in legacy mode, providing access to existing content.Access to slack channel and GitHub group for any interested backers.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $125 or more
About $125

Class/Party Special: 10 AR4 M HeadSets

AR4 M - Cinematic view headset, head strap, Legacy viewing mode, and AR for Everyone sticker pack. True See-Through AR for safe playground and Pokemon Go game play. This headset is ideal for the widest viewing angle and highest resolution. If you want to play games, or view 360 degree or cinematic video in a widescreen format, then choose this headset. Unity/Vuforia AR Software Package for custom games and messaging. Access to slack channel and GitHub group for any interested backers.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $200 or more
About $200

Classroom Deal ‒ Ten AR4 E Headsets

10 (ten) Hybrid headset, head strap, legacy viewing mode, and AR for Everyone sticker pack. AR4 E switches easily between flat and 3D viewing modes. Costs a little more to produce with additional optics, but gives you AR and VR in one platform. This headset also works in legacy mode, providing access to existing content.Access to slack channel and GitHub group for any interested backers.